Slot-type electronic and/or mechanical gaming machines, often also referred as slot machines, are popular fixtures in casino or other gaming environments. Such slot machines are generally controlled by installed software programs that enable rapid gaming action. Aside from slot machines, various other kinds of gaming devices, including electronically-assisted gaming tables are also generally controlled by installed software programs that enable rapid gaming action, not only for the particular gaming device, but also across large communities of similar gaming devices. More specifically, interest in gaming action can be enhanced by providing for community-based chances at winning growing jackpot pools, often referred to as progressives. Sometimes, the rapid gaming action moves faster than signage update or apparent signage update action (as apparent to players). This can lead to problems including some elucidated below.
Participants in gaming environments may include one or more primary players who are directly using the slot or other software driven gaming apparatuses, one or more locally adjacent players who are directly using locally adjacent slot or other software driven gaming apparatuses (e.g., as in the case of a “bank” of slot machines all participating in a bank-wide progressive pool). Participants in gaming environments may include in-casino further players who are participating in one or more in-casino progressive jackpot pools and wide area players who are participating in a jurisdictionally sanctioned wide area progressive jackpot pools that extend over a plurality of casinos or other such distinct localities. Participants typically also include adjacent bystanders (e.g., players' friends) who are standing nearby the primary players and include nearby passers by who happen to be passing by in an area where they can view part of the gaming action(s) of one or more of the slot or other software driven gaming apparatuses including displays (e.g., video monitors presenting signage updates) of the progressively growing local or other larger area jackpot pools and the occasional (rare or more frequent) awarding of such jackpots.
As a general but not absolute rule, it has been observed that when the available number of slot machines that can participate in a given progressive pool increases and/or when the number of players playing those machines and thus participating in the given progressive pool increases, then the accumulating jackpot prize amount—call it P(J,t) where P is the current Prize amount at time point t and J is the identity of the specific progressive jackpot pool—for that given progressive pool J tends to grow faster (has a faster climb rate, ΔP/Δt) while at the same time the average delay between hits Avg(th2-th1)—where h2 is hit number 2 and h1 is immediately preceding hit one—which hits entitle the respective hitting player to win the then present prize amount (P(J,th2), P(J,th1)) tends to shrink. As a result, player/bystander excitement with respect to that given progressive pool J tends to increase, and then more players tend to join in and the jackpot climb rate ΔP/Δt increases even faster while average delay between jackpot hits Avg(th(i+1)−thi)—where i is an incrementing integer—tends to shrink even more. For certain types of progressives there can come a period in time when due to random chance, the instantaneous delays between two or more hits, th(i+1)−thi approaches zero or another small value that appears to the human players as if it is essentially zero.
Larger ones of progressive jackpots (e.g., mega-jackpots for example in the range of $10,000 or more) tend to be hit and awarded on a highly infrequent basis (e.g., less than one per day on average). Players know this and thus tend to shy away from using machines that offer no chances other than the very infrequently awarded mega-jackpot. To make the games more interesting and enticing, casinos typically allow smaller groups (e.g., banks totaling say 10 or 20) of their machines to participate in smaller progressive jackpots that pay off more often. The smaller or mini jackpots (e.g., awards of in the range of about $1,000 or less, more typically $100 or less) tend to be hit and awarded much more frequently than the mega-jackpot (e.g., at least a handful of times per day on average if not even more often). Players see these more frequently paying-off machine as being apparently more “lucky” and thus tend to flock to machines or machine banks that appear to be hitting their mini jackpots more often. To these players the specific machines at their specific locations appear to be more lucky at the moment. As more players flock to the mini jackpot machines in the specific, appearing to be “lucky” location, the local jackpot climb rate (ΔP/Δt) for the respective mini jackpot Jmini grows and average delay between hits (Avg(th(i+1)−thi)) tends to shrink. That can entice even more players to flock to those specific machines. As frequency of payoffs for the smaller progressive jackpots increases (and average delay between hits shrinks), problems can emerge. Some of these problems are the result of the high speed at which the electronic gaming devices determine gaming action outcome versus the comparatively slower speed at which electronic or other signage devices (e.g., video monitors) get updated and/or versus the comparatively slower response time of human players.
More specifically, in the case of the smaller and more frequently hit progressive jackpot pools, two players can be sitting side-by-side at essentially identical slot machines in a crowded casino where both players hit a win for the same mini jackpot fund Jmini within a few seconds or less of one another. In other words, th(i+1)−thi<S seconds (where S for example can be 10 or less). Yet more specifically and merely as an example, the hit and win procedure of the given progressive jackpot pool Jmini may entail each player having a go at a lottery-scratch-to-win type of prize determination mechanism. Both players will be focusing on scratching off a pattern on their virtual scratch-to-win tickets. Because of the rapid speed at which the electronic slot (or other) gaming devices work internally, one of the players will be conventionally awarded the currently and publicly displayed mini-jackpot amount (of say P(J,th1)=$100) but the adjacent player is awarded a de-minimis and temporarily hidden replenishment amount (say P(J,th2)=$5, where th2 comes a split second after th1). Seeing that her neighbor got $100 and she only $5, the second player feels cheated. She may hit the operator assistance button. When a casino agent comes to the gaming machine requesting operator assistance (e.g., with a flashing orange light), the second player lodges her complaint or “dispute” not only directly to the casino agent but often also in front of nearby others. She may say something like, “My machine is broken and not fair. I got exactly the same spin and scratch results as on hers. She won $100 and I got a measly $5! How can that be?” (One reason why the second-in-time player typically gets $5 and not $0 is because of an automatic replenishment mechanism disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,810 to Williams and briefly described later below. A method for keeping track of multiple jackpots is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,144 to Canon and includes use of date stamped history records.)
Casinos do not like to be caught in such binds where, although the gaming machines operate as advertised, customers feel cheated, dissatisfied, may lodge complaints either then or later to friends and then the reputation of the casino for fairness may degrade. A solution to this bind is desired.
It is to be understood that some concepts, ideas and problem recognitions provided in this description of the Background may be novel rather than part of the prior art.